Info-link: U.S. Tow Boat Market

Tow Boats are fiberglass inboard boats between 17’ and 25’ used primarily for tow sports, including skiing, wake boarding and wake surfing. The tow boat category has been growing consistently over the last ten or so years, driven in part by the introduction and increasing popularity of wake boarding and wake surfing.

Here’s a quick summary:

• There are currently just under 250,000 tow boats registered in the U.S., almost half of them (48%) were purchased new or pre-owned during the past 5 years.
• The average tow boat is relatively young at 16 years old and roughly 2,400 of them are being retired from the fleet each year.
• Last year, 67% of all tow boat were purchased pre-owned (33% New).
• 28% of the people that purchased tow boats in 2019 were first-time-boat buyers and 38% of them own another boat (including PWC).
• Tow boat buyers tend to be well established. 73% of them are over 40 years-old; almost all own their home; and they have usually lived there for a while.